Current Projects

RESEARCH ACTIVITY 2018

Undocu-Research Project

We have trained 30+ undocu-researchers from the university, local community colleges
and community at large. We are collecting data now for Phase 1 of three phases of
this research project:

Educators interviews

High school student interviews

High school ethnography.

We are also writing our own grant proposals.

Outcomes: We are doing community presentations of our data (schools, etc.). We will do data
analysis of the educator interviews with the collective this summer with plans to
submit manuscript draft this fall.

This project is supported through grassroots efforts, small grants, and volunteers.

“Diverse Portraits” Book with Richelle

We have written a book length manuscript and have a contract with Rowman & Littlefield.
The manuscript is out for external review. We are awaiting feedback to do another
revision.

Outcomes: Book publication.

Funding: Project is unfunded and is part of our research work as professors.

Low Income Computer Science Students

Social and Cultural Capital

We have launched our extended hackathon (Fab Fridays) for the NSF SSTEM Program that
is geared to high financial need, high academic potential Computer Science students.
Co-PI's are Dr. Youwen Ouyang (Computer Science Chair) and Dr. Geoffrey Gilmore (Associate
Vice President of Student Affairs). Data collection is in progress. Dr. Marisol Clark-Ibáñez is part of the curriculum and planning team, a grant co-director, and
embedded Sociologist.

Outcome: We have planned for specific conference presentations and aim to produce articles
based on our approach for supporting the students.

Funding: Project supported by an NSF grant and through the NLRC; faculty efforts are minimally
funded with minor summer stipend.)

Latinx Civic Engagement

We have wrapped up data collection for this large project on Latinx community members
and their civic engagement. Our study tested the efficacy of an 8 week curriculum
geared toward low income and Spanish speaking community members who have little formal
education. We surveyed civic knowledge, behavior, and attitudes before the intervention,
at the end of the intervention, and three months after the intervention. We have 320
participants in our sample.

Outcome: We will be hosting a regional stakeholders summit on Latinx civic engagement (Public
Sociology) and also work on publications. We have already presented our research at
various conferences and submitted an article manuscript to a journal. This is the
third and final year of our grant - dissemination is the goal.

Funding: The project is supported by a federal grant from the Corporation for National and
Community Service to the NLRC. Dr. Arcela Nuñez-Alvarez and Dr. Marisol Clark-Ibáñez direct the project.

Latinx Elders and Civic Engagement

We have concluded outreach (Fall) and are finalizing our instrument to collect data
on an 8 week course specifically geared to facilitate the civic engagement of elders
in the Latinx community. This study is based off of Year 2 findings for our other
CNCS funded project. We have partners in Vista, Escondido and Fallbrook where we will
host the classes for the elders. Similar to the above study, we will conduct a survey
that encompasses civic engagement, health, and technology at three points: before
the intervention, at the end of the intervention, and three months after the intervention.

Outcome: We will have at least 150 Latinx seniors in our study, making it one of the largest
of its kind. We hope to provide a curriculum that we could "scale up" and present
to the CNCS Senior Corps program. We also hope to present our data at conferences
and publish articles based on the research findings.

Funding: The project is supported by a federal grant from the Corporation for National and
Community Service to the NLRC.Dr. Arcela Nuñez-Alvarez and Dr. Marisol Clark-Ibáñez direct the project.

Homie UP – Youth Empowerment Program

This project supports high-risk, multicultural (majority Latino) males and their families
in North San Diego County, California by providing educational and prevention services
aimed at addressing social determinants of health and promoting culturally relevant
community policing approaches in order to reduce the prevalence and impact of youth
violence among racial and ethnic minority and/or disadvantaged at-risk youth. We are
providing wrap-around interventions based on a cultural wealth model from Latinx Critical
Theory and have multiple partners in our region to help us deliver the program. We
have MOUs with area school districts to help us recruit students to the program. IRB
has been approved and we are about to enroll our first cohort.

Outcome: We hope to present at conferences and produce articles in journals. We also would
like to publish and share more about the curriculum and our program across distinct
publics.

Funding: The project is funded through Office of Minority Health to the NLRC. Dr. Arcela Nuñez-Alvarez
and Dr. Marisol Clark-Ibáñez direct the project..

Semillas de Libertad

We are delivering the Homie UP curriculum to re-entry populations in North County.
We have a close partnership with re-entry homes in the region to serve men and women.
We also collaborate with the organization, Pillars of the Community (POC), based in
South San Diego. Classes are on-going and taught by members of the NLRC and POC.

Outcome: Regional presentations.

Funding: This project is funded by the Social Equity Fund to the NLRC. Flor Alvarez, founder
of Homie UP and member of the NLRC, leads the project. Dr. Marisol Clark-Ibáñez helps with the contracts for the partners, etc.

Voices of Latinx Communities in Vista for the SANDAG 2020 Plan

We attend collaborators meetings and have one-on-one meetings with San Diego Association
of Governments (SANDAG) program officers. We are facilitating community input for
the 2020 Plan.

Outcome: Report to SANDAG. Additional grants.

Funding: This project is funded by SANDAG and is through the NLRC. Dr. Arcela Nuñez-Alvarez
and Dr. Marisol Clark-Ibáñez are leads supervising reports, curriculum development, and liaison with
the collaborators and program officers.